Is this normal? Steering wandering all over the place. Brand new 2021 Rubicon 2 Door

[GATORB8]

I wonder how many people test drive on the freeway and decide not to buy. In our case, we just drove around on the side streets and I wonder what we would have decided had we taken it a few miles on the freeway. My order for the longer LCA at allmoparparts.com is still "working" status after a week. I hope they are not on backorder and this doesn't drag out for months. Just want the wife to feel safe and enjoy her Jeep.

My order from a discount dealer got cancelled for back order. Rockauto had the, amid shipped same day.

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[The Fixer]

I wonder how many people test drive on the freeway and decide not to buy. In our case, we just drove around on the side streets and I wonder what we would have decided had we taken it a few miles on the freeway. My order for the longer LCA at allmoparparts.com is still "working" status after a week. I hope they are not on backorder and this doesn't drag out for months. Just want the wife to feel safe and enjoy her Jeep.

Did you already check the tire pressures? 39 psi on the freeway with hot tires is probably around 35 psi cold. You could experiment with that. Also, does her Jeep have M/T or A/T tires?

FWIW, I have Rubicon springs/shocks/wheels/BFG KO2s on my 2-door sport. I left in the OEM control arms, and it's not twitchy or loose feeling IMO. Does it drive like a Jeep? You bet. But is it better than any SFA Jeep I've driven in the past? Definitely.

 

[Gripster]

I did check and the tire pressure was 40 psi cold so I lowered it to 35, but have not driven it to see if that did anything. Our Jeep came with the BFG KO2 AT, not the MT.

 

[The Fixer]

I did check and the tire pressure was 40 psi cold so I lowered it to 35, but have not driven it to see if that did anything. Our Jeep came with the BFG KO2 AT, not the MT.

Sounds good, keep us posted! I think you'll feel a difference with them down to 35 when cold.

 

[Jamrock]

I did check and the tire pressure was 40 psi cold so I lowered it to 35, but have not driven it to see if that did anything. Our Jeep came with the BFG KO2 AT, not the MT.

It is best to make a change and test. Make another change and test. Make another change and test. This way you will know which changes improve things and which changes make things worse.

I would test drive the vehicle at 35 psi before making any additional changes. This will allow you to properly evaluate the effect of the longer lower control arms.

 

[OKKev]

When I picked up my 2 door Rubicon, I nearly took it back after a few miles. It was scary to drive. I have the MT tires. Before I turned around to take it back, I flipped the screen over to tire pressure. They were aired up to 50 psi. I dropped them to 35 psi and the driving was acceptable.

 

[au176]

I wonder how many people test drive on the freeway and decide not to buy. In our case, we just drove around on the side streets and I wonder what we would have decided had we taken it a few miles on the freeway. My order for the longer LCA at allmoparparts.com is still "working" status after a week. I hope they are not on backorder and this doesn't drag out for months. Just want the wife to feel safe and enjoy her Jeep.

EXACTLY. I bought this for a purpose- an easy-to-tow, four-flat vehicle behind a motorhome, that is small and versatile enough to drive almost anywhere. (OK, I've also always wanted a Jeep since I first saw a CJ 5/7 back when I was young and impressionable!) I was told by other Wrangler owners that I know to expect goofy steering, so I wasn't surprised when I test-drove one. What amazed me was just HOW BAD it was. Older suspension technology aside, I think a LOT of this is due to the 38 PSI in the tires. (And this IS the recommended pressure on the door tire sticker.) I believe manufacturers do this to raise the MPG numbers for reporting purposes. I dialed mine back to 36 PSI and noticed a big difference. Any SUV I've owned in the past were recommended to be 32-34 PSI, so that's what I'm doing next.

To your point, I would NOT have bought a Jeep based on my test drive...

 

[au176]

When I picked up my 2 door Rubicon, I nearly took it back after a few miles. It was scary to drive. I have the MT tires. Before I turned around to take it back, I flipped the screen over to tire pressure. They were aired up to 50 psi. I dropped them to 35 psi and the driving was acceptable.

AWESOME profile picture, OKKev!

 

[dpike]

i will add this, report the issue to Jeep Cares, have them open a case for your situation to get it documented, looked at by the dealer and on file. longer LCAs are not the end all quick fix for this situation which is shared by thousands of jeep owners.

 

[richk225]

I hate to say it but I am having a similar issue with my 2021 392 Rubicon, Twitchy steering, wandering and steering wheel does not return to center after making a hard left or right turn and constantly requiring driver input for steering correction.

I went through the exact same issue with my 2018 JL Rubicon, to the point that it went through 4 steering stabilizers, a new Track arm, alignment 3 times, reprogrammed the computer and finally 2 aluminum steering box`s. While the dealer was not really doing anything to help other than
"It`s a Jeep thing" which is complete BS. I had even replaced the drag link and track bar with components from Synergy and Steer Smarts and also put on a Teraflex 2.2 adjustable steering stabilizer. They were never able to get it to drive straight, caster was at 6.5, tires had been aired up and down, I had even done a tire chalk test to cee the tire contact patch. It did not matter what road surface I was driving on but once it warmed up it became worse. So the Jeep was traded in for a Ford Raptor, and no you cant even compare them, they are both at the top of their game for the category they are in.

The new 392 does have longer lower control arms from the factory and this does push the front axle forward and after talking with so many suspension vendors at the Jeep Invasion in Wildwood NJ they all said the same thing, the 392 is like a different Jeep with upper adjustable control arms. I was not the only one there with this problem, it was said to be fixed by switching back to the cast iron steering box from the aluminum one that first came out on the new JL`s. I did get to ride in the passenger seat of other 392`s and their steering was the same as mine and after taking several owners out in mine everyone agreed that something was not right. One owner bought a set of adjustable upper control arms since this is what all the suspension vendors were saying to replace. The 392 that had replaced the upper control arms was like driving my old JK, no wander, no fighting to get it back to center and hardly any constant driver steering correction. He had installed the arms in the parking lot at the show and used a borrowed magnetic angle gauge and put it on the lower axle steering knuckle. The Jeep started off with roughly 4 degrees of caster and he had adjusted it to roughly 6.5 degrees and that made all of the differance in the world. He had used SteinJager adjustable arms because they are adjustable while on the vehicle, there is no need to remove any of the mounting hardware to make adjustments.

So I bought a set of SteinJager adjustable arms and the 392 is going in next Wednesday to correct a few minor issues and they are going to see how it drives with the stock setup and with the front end adjusted to factory spec`s and if it still continues to be an issue they will put on the SteinJager adjustable arms and get the caster close to 6.5 and then see how it drives.
Hopefully I will get the same results as the other 392 that went from bad to good steering. It`s not a Jeep thing

 

[kkarnage]

I did check and the tire pressure was 40 psi cold so I lowered it to 35, but have not driven it to see if that did anything. Our Jeep came with the BFG KO2 AT, not the MT.

I'd suggest googling "chalk test" and do that. That will take the guesswork out of what tire pressure you should be running.

 

[Gripster]

Wow. This is crazy. Thank you for posting your experience and I sure hope you have a good outcome. I am still patiently waiting for the Mopar longer LCA so I can see if I get a Jeep that drives safely.

 

[GATORB8]

Wow. This is crazy. Thank you for posting your experience and I sure hope you have a good outcome. I am still patiently waiting for the Mopar longer LCA so I can see if I get a Jeep that drives safely.

Have they shipped? Rockauto shipped same day for me two weeks ago, may be worth swapping if it’s back ordered. Same price.

 

[kkarnage]

2 aluminum steering box`s

Wait, you still have the aluminum steering box? The 392 should come standard with the steel one, like every other recent Wrangler, AFAIK. Those aluminum boxes are terrible.

 

[richk225]

Wait, you still have the aluminum steering box? The 392 should come standard with the steel one, like every other recent Wrangler, AFAIK. Those aluminum boxes are terrible.

No, I do not have the aluminum steering box, this one is cast and I believe the most recent part number is 68507571AB Please correct me if I am wrong
The old steering box`s were a nightmare and so many people have changed to a complete PSC Steering kit, new box along with a mechanical power steering pump and not electric like the factory one. I have not seen any of the mostly street driven/occasional weekend off roader switch to a system with the steering ram.
I am just hoping that with changing the upper arms it makes all of the steering troubles go away because last time it was a time consuming nightmare

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